For the first time ever, LibLearnX is happening in person! Join library workers and advocates from around the world in New Orleans. Featured conference speakers include Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone, Cory Doctorow, Carole Lindstrom and Steph Littlebird and Clint Smith.
If you can't make it to NOLA, the LLX Digital Experience is a great way to stream sessions live and on-demand from home.
Not registered yet? Register now and start planning your schedule with our top picks for programming librarians below. If you come in person, be sure to stop by the Public Programs Office booth (#712) at the LLX Marketplace to say hello.
* indicates a highly recommended session.
Saturday, January 28
Beyond the Basics: Elevating the Art of Storytelling in Display
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 289-299
Touchable, engaging display is key to the connection between every person and the book that speaks to them. Participants will have hands on, active opportunities to review display fundamentals while experimenting with storytelling through display --- creating theme, context, tension and interest. Working together in teams, we'll take this workshop offsite to an exciting mystery location where we can learn from the environment and be hands on with our experiments.
Imagination Stations: Bringing Art into the Library to Build Digital Literacy
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 391-392 (Also available to stream as part of Digital Experience)
Pilot project leaders and members will describe a recently completed art-based reading and digital literacy project which brought local artists into the library setting to team with library staff to create a national model for bridging access and opportunity divides through arts engagement. Speakers will describe the project and process and will share the resulting curriculum and toolkits. Speakers will engage with audience members to advise on how to best replicate the project in any library setting.
Not Your Typical Summer Camp: Engaging Teens in Responsible and Responsive Advocacy
1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 288-290
The Prince George's County Memorial Library System's Social Justice Camp teaches teens how to engage their advocacy, make connections in their community, and develop their passions into a product to ignite change. Teens hear from experts in human rights, technology, and other fields throughout this week-long camp while working alongside other budding advocates to create a pitch for a project to help their community. We will walk through the process of creating a similar camp tailored to your community and talk about the importance of providing a platform for your teens passions.
Talking Climate: Resilient Communities grantees share their stories
1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 295-296
In this reverse panel, representatives from libraries that received ALA’s Resilient Communities grants will share their experiences talking about the climate crisis with their users. The 2020-2021 grant program funded “library film screenings, community dialogues and related events based on local interest” at libraries across the U.S. To open the session, we will follow the practice established by Resilient Communities organizers and lead participants through a brief grounding exercise. Then, the moderator will introduce the idea of the “triple bottom line” of sustainability (social equity, economic feasibility, and environmental responsibility) and panelists will answer questions.
Difficult Conversations: Dealing with Hostility and De-escalating Conflict in the Library *
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 386-387
Library workers face increasingly difficult interactions at the library. Recent rises in intellectual freedom challenges have led to hostile exchanges that can be unproductive, unnerving, and unsafe. Libraries can bring people together to discuss important community topics, but it often requires addressing hot-button issues and involving people with opposing views. How can library staff manage these difficult conversations? In this accelerator session, participants will learn techniques for de-escalating tense exchanges, resolving conflicts, and facilitating difficult conversations. Participants will walk away with strategies to prepare and respond to these moments with calm confidence.
Community Building, Stronger Together: Creating Accessible and Inclusive Civics Programming
1:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 395-396 (Also available to stream as part of Digital Experience)
Need a fresh take on civics? Get the ideas, strategies, and resources for a community-based approach to civics programming and partnership development. Lauren Deering, Coordinator of Civic Engagement Programming, and Adriana Blancarte-Hayward, Manager of Outreach Services (The New York Public Library) will present an interactive session on designing and implementing your own “Everyday Civics” program–a community based conversation and learning series to inspire civic engagement, foster social connections, and advocate for positive change. This session will include presentation elements with interactive portions for small breakout sessions and group work, as well as time allocated for attendee Q&A.
Sensory Spaces and Creative Programming to Reach Your Diverse Community *
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 293-294
The goal of a sensory space is to provide an environment where children and adults with autism spectrum disorders, developmental disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder, cerebral palsy, memory loss, dementia and sensory processing disorders can feel safe and welcome. The area contains a variety of products that are visually stimulating, tactile, calming and interactive. In this Learning Lab, a panel from the Ocean County Library, NJ will share with you their Sensory Space and its journey to open to the public which was finally realized in 2021. Participants will be given practical information for addressing considerations such as funding, budget, space design, equipment, and involving key stakeholders. Most importantly, programming for your community and involving all ages and abilities will be discussed.
Volunteers or Employees: Finding the Right Fit for Teens at the Library
3:30 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, ShopTalk Area 1 (in LLX Marketplace)
Wondering whether you should pay teens as library employees, or engage them as volunteers? You're not alone! The distinctions can be tricky, and there are pros and cons to each. This Shop Talk session explores the types of roles that paid and unpaid teens tend to fill at public libraries and provides guidance on how to decide which teen experience will work best for your library. The presenter will also share her experiences managing paid internships and volunteer programs at the New York Public Library, and will share what she has learned from those experiences. You'll learn practical tips on how to structure volunteer programs and paid teen experiences, the activities that work best for each category, how to fund teen employment if that's the path you choose, the pitfalls to avoid, and finally, the valuable learning opportunities volunteer and paid positions offer to teens.
Sunday, January 29
Build Facilitation Skills for Better Meetings and Increased Community Engagement *
10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 283-285 (Also available to stream as part of Digital Experience)
Some meetings drag on seemingly without end, while others are engaging and productive. The difference – skilled facilitation! In this fun and interactive session participants will learn about facilitation skills that, with practice, will improve meetings. Presenters will discuss group dynamics, facilitation core competencies, and tools to use in group meetings. We’ll spend time in small groups practicing core facilitation skills and working through how to navigate difficult conversations with groups. Participants will leave the session ready to facilitate more productive staff meetings and lively community conversations.
A+ Outreach: Collaborating to Address COVID Learning Loss
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 393-394
Learning loss as a result of the pandemic has impacted students and families across the nation. Learn how one library system addressed this issue head on by developing targeted outreach and specialized programs using research-backed methodology to build relationships and create an environment where students are learning in a fun, relaxed, collaborative, and imaginative way, and using data-driven methods to measure success. Participants will hear about successful, scalable models, like a weekly enrichment program funded through partnership with the State Department of Education and targeted academic outreach to rural schools, then break into small groups to practice identifying partners and creating targeted program or outreach plans to address critical needs in their own community.
Leveraging the Self-Publishing Process for Library Programming and Patron Services
10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 383-385
If patrons are asking you questions about how to get a book published or you're looking to create low-cost high-quality content from expert authors, this session will reveal how the process of self-publishing can help your community produce books as well as help the library curate interesting programming.
Rainbow Family Storytime: Yes, even in the South!
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Ideas Xchange Area 2 (in LLX Marketplace)
LGBTQIA+ -positive library children's programs play a vital role in making communities safe and affirming for everyone. However, hosting said programming - especially story times that feature Drag Queens/Kings - can be difficult to implement because of the nature of bigotry LGBTQIA+ community members continue to face. Attendees of this session will learn how Memphis Public Libraries has successfully implemented a city-wide Rainbow Family Story Time program with the help of community partners and a lot of intentional language.
Exploring Accessible Materials and Library Partnerships to Serve the Print Disabled Community *
3:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, Room 283-285 (Also available to stream as part of Digital Experience)
Do you have an increase in patrons asking for audiobooks because the print in books is just too small to read? Are these patrons who need audiobooks asking for books that you cannot find in WorldCAT? Are they waiting months for your one audiobook copy to become available? Patrons with print disabilities are all too often an underserved part of the community because they do not always identify as “print disabled”, and it can be a challenge to find accessible reading material for people who need audiobooks. Learn what a “print disability” is and the resources available for people of all ages who cannot read a traditional print book because of blindness, low vision, physical limitations or a perceptual or reading disability. Find out how these no-cost resources are available for all US residents and citizens who have a “print disability.” Discover the ways that public libraries can work with other libraries and organizations who provide services to the print disabled.
Trends in Research Impact Librarianship: Developing New Programs and Services
3:30 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, ShopTalk Area 2 (in LLX Marketplace) (Also available to stream as part of Digital Experience)
As research impact librarianship continues to grow as an area of interest within the profession, it's important to share experiences that will inform other libraries that may be developing personnel, programs, and practices to support research visibility and impact. This presentation will showcase the University of Houston Libraries and how it's in the early stages of developing a new program of service dedicated to contributing to the increased visibility of individual researchers and the research landscape of the univsersity.as a whole. Attendees will be able to define metrics literacy, conduct a research impact needs assessment, and list steps for creating a research impact program plan.
Monday, January 30
Youth Media Awards
8:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
Location: Morial Convention Center, New Orleans Theater (Also available to stream as part of Digital Experience)